The exhibition The Landscape of War--now wrapping up after running for two months at the San Jose Institute for Contemporary Art--is a poignant display of individual artworks that vary in message and style yet collectively address the "War on Terror" mess that the US of A has gotten itself into, and reaffirms artists ability (and tradition...) to be politically relevant in their message without being pushy or ingratiating, in order that we the viewer might be inspired in a practical manner to deal/fix/remove this burden on our collective society and culture: the United States' war agenda. It is quite shocking,... Read More

Mitra Fabian slices paper window blinds, repurposing them into organic islands for her current show, Propagation, at San Jose's Institute of Contemporary Art. Concrete becomes water, as these islands spread across the gallery floor. Among other works, the Ventilation Series forms a rich tension between hand-made repetitive structures with manufactured functional items. Mitra's art is in the altering of the meaning of propagation--imbuing paper, scotch tape, and glue with fertility. Her work comments on the proliferation of found or machined materials with a prescribed function. She disregards their utility, but maintains the notion of mass production in reassembling them into... Read More